


Germ Blows Up the Well

by Rcw99



Series: Things To Hold On To [4]
Category: Night In The Woods (Video Game)
Genre: Germ knows a guy ok?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-19 02:51:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10630620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rcw99/pseuds/Rcw99
Summary: Germ’s a pretty good guy.He doesn’t ask questions.So when some of his friends come out of the old well in his backyard and ask him to blow it up behind them?He gets right on it.





	

  


They drank the sodas that Germ had brought. He had been right, of course. It definitely helped them recover from their ordeal. It turns out that navigating an abandoned mine, confronting a bunch of cultists, surviving a cave-in, and then climbing out of a well takes a lot out of you.

Who knew?

They stood there now, just to the side of the well that was apparently somewhere in Germ’s backyard. Now that all the excitement and danger was over, and the evening was winding down, they weren’t entirely sure what to do next.

Eventually, Mae spoke up.

“Oh uh. Anyone else wanna get far away from this well?” Mae cast the well in question a pointed stare. A lot of stuff happened down there. Stuff she kind of wanted to just forget about.

“Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup,” Bea drawled as she lit up a new cigarette.

Everyone agreed with that sentiment. They were all still in a little shock from everything that had happened.

And then an idea struck Mae. If they had managed to get out of this well, there was a chance that the cult could get out too. There was a chance they could come after her and her friends. There was a chance that whatever was at the bottom of that hole could still get to her.

And that was a chance she couldn’t take.

She turned to Germ. “Hey, Germ, can you like…I dunno, seal up this well?” 

And without even missing a beat, or asking why, Germ gave the question serious consideration. “Hmmm…” 

Everyone else looked on expectedly. They all seemed to understand just why Mae had asked the question, or at least had gotten the gist of it.

“I got dynamite!” 

“What?” Bea seemed surprised at that. Though, she thought immediately after, it was probably the least crazy thing that had happened that night.

Germ shrugged. “Yeah. I mean, I can get some.” 

“How big an explosion is that?” Mae asked, already liking where this was going. Gregg seemed similarly enthused, but Angus kept him quiet.

“I mean...” Germ thought for a moment. “Not small?”

“Okay.” Mae nodded. “That works.” She looked to the others, who didn’t seem all that onboard with the idea, except for Gregg, who was all for it. Bea shrugged and gave a non-committal grunt, which was good enough.

It was decided then.

Germ would blow up the well.

Gregg pumped his fist in excitement. “Thanks, Germ!” he yelled.

“Yeah, thanks, buddy,” added Angus. He wasn’t as sure on the idea, but had already resigned himself to the fact that it was almost certainly going to be happening anyways. Explosions were dangerous, after all, and there had already been a large cave-in that night.

Bea didn’t say anything, but smiled at Germ as she took a puff of her cigarette.

“Um. Okay...” Germ seemed a little taken aback by the attention. He turned to leave. “Bye, guys.”

And with that, Germ left.

  


~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

  


It wasn’t until the next morning that Germ started to do anything.

He trudged up to the north side of town, past the train tracks, and into the area considered to be the sticks of Possum Springs. There were only a few houses out there, old hunting cabins that had been converted to homes in one degree or another.

There was a guy up there that he sort of knew. Keith, his name was. Just Keith. He was an old, worldly sort that had ‘acquired’ some items of interest over the years. Nothing terribly illegal, of course, but Germ knew for certain he could wrangle some dynamite from him. 

Well, hopefully, at least. Their paths had only crossed a few times, for varying reasons, but they were acquaintances, and the guy trusted Germ. Germ felt fairly certain he’d get what he needed here.

After walking for almost an hour, Keith’s house finally came into view through the trees. It was a ramshackle old place that had certainly seen better days, as Keith wasn’t the sort to keep up appearances, but it was homely enough.

He hiked through the wild, untamed yard and up the steps of the cabin that creaked as he stepped on them.

Germ knocked on the door.

For a moment, nothing happened.

There was noise from inside, footsteps and something being dragged across the floor. And then a gruff voice from right on the other side of the door, “Who’s that?”

“It’s me,” Germ said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The door opened just wide enough for a single eye to peer through the crack. It looked down at Germ with suspicion and then surprise.

“The Warton kid?”

“Yup.”

The door opened a little wider, revealing the bear inside, decked out in full camo clothing.

“Heya, Keith.” Germ gave a half-hearted wave. “Need some provisions.”

“Pr’visions, huh?” Keith spit some chewing tobacco out onto the floor. “C’mon in then.” He gestured for Germ to follow with a nod of his head and disappeared back into the house.

Germ stepped inside and shut the door.

The inside of the cabin was lit only by candle light. Unlike some of the other places out here, this one had never been brought into the modern age. There wasn’t any electricity here, which was fine by the cabin’s sole inhabitant.

Keith had sat down at a table and continued peeling an apple with a large hunting knife. He was a little under halfway done already. He didn’t acknowledge his visitor for a minute or two, leaving Germ to stand there as he finished peeling the apple.

Germ took the opportunity to inspect some of Keith’s things. His cabin was packed with stuff that, as far as Germ could tell, had no real use or meaning. Lots of parts and trinkets just lying around the place.

And then, without looking up from his task, Keith spoke up, “So wha’ sorta pr’visions ya need, Warton?”

Germ, who had been looking at what appeared to be an old arrowhead, turned back around, and walked over to the table, his hands jammed in his jacket pockets. “You got any stock left over from the old mining depots?”

Keith glanced up at him, working the chew in his mouth. “Eyup, mosta it kept pretty well.”

“Need some dynamite. Or some black powder or something.”

The old bear took pause at that and stopped peeling the apple. He set the knife down and looked Germ straight in the eye, now clearly invested in the conversation. “What a kid like you need dynamite for?”

Germ shrugged and met Keith’s gaze. “Need to blow something up.”

The staring contest went on for a few more moments, until Keith leaned back in his chair, seemingly satisfied by something. He continued peeling the apple at his measuredly slow pace. “I’ll get some to ya. I gotta go scrounge it up first.”

“Need it now.”

Keith’s head snapped back up at that. “Boy—” His voice grew loud and then broke off with a sigh. He stood up and stabbed the knife down into the table. Judging by all the notches in the wood, he did that a lot. “A’ight,” he said, “Come with me.”

And so they went.

  


~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

  


Later that night, Germ was walking back into the woods with a plastic shopping bag filled with sticks of dynamite. 

Keith had let him have it all for free too, which was nice. It was just sitting there, rotting, he said, and had let Germ take whatever he wanted. It was decades-old blasting dynamite, from back when the mine was in operation, and Germ wasn’t sure just how much he was going to need to collapse the well, so he brought back a respectable amount.

Soon after, he arrived at his destination. 

Now, the well wasn’t technically in his backyard, so he wasn’t really worried about causing any damage. The property line ended some ways back, and the well was firmly out in the woods. It was so far back, that it was only when the trees were barren during winter that he could actually see the well from his bedroom window.

Really, it was just far enough away that it was almost a miracle that he had heard his friends yelling for help the previous night. It was pure luck that he had been outside at the time.

He walked up to the well and peered down into it, but couldn’t see the bottom, even with the help of the bright moonlight. It was deep, he knew. When he was little, he used to play out here with his brother a lot, so he was pretty familiar with the well.

This whole thing was kind of…sad, in a way. This well had always been a constant in his life, and in a couple of minutes now, it would be no more. He was sad to see it go.

But he trusted Mae and the others. Mostly, at least. If they needed this well to be sealed up, there was surely a good reason for it.

And so, he began what he was here to do.

He took the dynamite out of the bag and stuffed the bag in his pocket to take back home with him. Recycling was important, after all.

The best way to do this, he figured, was to tie all the fuses together to make sure that everything went off at the same time. It took him a few minutes, because the wicks were old and beginning to rot, but he eventually got it.

This was it, then.

He dug a box of matches out of his pocket, struck one, and lit the fuse.

It sparked to life.

Germ tossed the bundle of dynamite into the well and watched its descent, making sure that the fuse didn’t go out. He could see the flickering pinprick of light as it hit the bottom.

And then he retreated to the edge of the clearing to wait.

He wasn’t too worried about anyone hearing this. It was night, and there weren’t that many people out here. His family lived pretty far out from the rest of town.

Now, he wasn’t entirely sure how long it would take the fuse to run out. He figured at least a minute, as it was a pretty long wick.

He watched on with bated breath, waiting fo—

There was an ear-splitting boom, and a plume of dust and rock erupted from the well.

Germ jumped about a foot in the air out of shock, and then began coughing violently as the cloud of dust hit him. He accidently sucked in a breath of air, and he could feel the dirt coating his throat. Screwing his eyes shut, and turning away from the well, he stepped back a few paces until the dust cloud dissipated some.

He hadn’t expected it to be that loud. His heart was pounding in his chest, his ears ringing, his entire body shaking. Other people definitely were able to hear that. He’d certainly have to come up with some sort of explanation for his mom.

After a moment, he opened his eyes and looked back.

Everything was calm now.

The dust had settled.

The forest was silent.

The bugs had stopped chirping.

And the well was still there, mostly unscathed.

Germ frowned and cautiously took a few steps forward. Maybe he hadn’t used enough? He wasn’t exactly sure how deep the well went. He probably should’ve gotten that information from Mae beforehand.

He took another step forward.

And then an immense creaking filled the air, as if the ground itself was screaming.

Germ’s eyes widened and he took off in a full sprint in the opposite direction.

He knew that sound.

Most everyone in Possum Springs knew that sound.

That was the sound of a sinkhole opening up.

Once he got what he felt was a respectable distance away, he turned and peered back through the trees.

Even from where he was, he could clearly see the ground around the well sagging now.

And then without any warning, there was a deep rumble and the earth caved in on itself.

One minute, the ground and the well were both there, and the next, everything was gone.

A huge hole opened up in the forest floor and grew steadily larger with each passing minute as more and more dirt collapsed inwards. It eventually reached the edges of the clearing, exposing the roots of some of the trees. A few trees even began to lean as the dirt under them gave way.

And then it slowed down. The rock and the dirt grew to a gentle halt and the hole didn’t get any wider. 

And there was silence again.

After waiting for a few more minutes, to make doubly sure nothing else was going to happen, Germ took a few tentative steps forward and looked at what he had done. 

The hole itself was wide—very wide—but not all that deep, which made sense considering how much space was down there. It was no less than twenty feet across, but it seemed to be only five or ten feet to the bottom.

In hindsight, Germ probably should’ve expected that something like that would happen. 

Oh well.

But, the deed was done. The well was sealed up and the hole seemed stable enough. If he was lucky the rest of the surrounding area wouldn’t collapse any further.

He stared at the hole and smiled. “See you later, bro.”

And Germ went back home. 

  


~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

  


There was a knock on the Warton family’s front door that next day.

It was early morning and Dana Warton wasn’t expecting anyone to come by. Her husband was off at work, her daughters were at school, Jeremy was…somewhere, and she wasn’t expecting any company. She didn’t know who would be coming by at this hour.

So it was only when she looked through the peephole and saw Sam Hutchins standing there in his police uniform that she understood.

She opened the door. “Heya, Sam!” she said brightly, greeting the police officer with a wide smile. “What brings you by?”

Officer Hutchins tipped his hat in greeting. “Hey there, Mrs. Warton.”

She scoffed at that, a smile playing across her face. “Oh please, Sam. None of that. We went to school together. That feels weird.” She crossed her arms and leaned into the doorframe.

“Alright. Just tryin’ to be professional. Chief always yelled at me when I wasn’t.”

“It’s fine.” A pause. “Do you wanna come in?” She gestured inside. “I can put some coffee on.”

“Naw. I’m real busy at the moment. Thanks, though.” He took a small notepad out of his pocket. “Uh, just need to ask you a few questions is all.”

“Shoot.”

“We got a couple o’ calls late last night ‘bout some sort o’ loud noise comin’ from up here. You know anythin’ ‘bout that?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I figured that’s why you were here. It was a sinkhole. A big one, too. Jeremy actually saw it open up.” She waved a hand behind her. “It’s out past the house. There was an old well out there. Been there for a long time now. Must’ve just finally given way, you know?”

Sam scribbled something on the notepad. “Now, Jeremy’s your boy, right?”

“Yeah.”

“What was he doin’ out by this well so late at night?”

Dana shrugged. “I dunno. I think, uh… Well, he and his brother used to play out there a lot, back in the day. He goes out there to think sometimes.” 

“Mhmm. Is he home now?”

“No. He’s up in town, I think. Why?”

Sam hummed in response, and then, seemingly satisfied, he put his notepad away. “Well, if he were here, I’d wanna talk to him too, but if he’s not, it don’t matter none. There’s too much goin’ on right now for me to hunt him down across town.”

“Oh. Should I send him over to the station when he gets home?”

“Naw. It’s fine. If he says there’s a sinkhole, I got no reason to think otherwise. Just glad it didn’t appear under your house or somethin’. Must’ve been mighty loud for your neighbors to hear it too.”

Dana chuckled. “It was. About scared us all half to death. We’d thought there’d been an explosion until Jeremy came in yelling about a sinkhole. Must’ve been under a lot of pressure or something to make such a noise. “

“Or somethin’, yeah.”

“…Yeah.” She smiled wistfully. “I’m just glad he didn’t get hurt is all. I worry about him, you know? He hasn’t been the same since…” She trailed off, looking somewhere past Sam.

There was a brief silence.

The conclusion to her sentence hung in the air, unspoken.

_…since his brother passed._

Sam didn’t know what to say. What had happened to the eldest Warton kid was a tragedy. He still remembered it. He could only imagine how Dana must’ve felt with Jeremy being so close to danger.

And then he spoke up, hastily changing the subject back. “Well, its good nothin’ too serious happened. If there’s one thing Possum Springs is good at dealin’ with, its sinkholes.” She laughed at that, and the tension was eased some. “Thanks for your time, Dana. It was nice seein’ ya again.”

“You too, Sam. I’ll see you around.”

With a curt wave goodbye, Sam turned around and made to leave. 

But Dana stood there, with the front door still open, unease flashing across her face. There was a question gnawing at her, something that had been on her mind since she had heard it the previous day.

“H-hey, Sam,” she called out, catching his attention. “Uh, before you go…” She stepped further out of the house, and he came back to meet her. “There were some…rumors around town yesterday. Do you know what exactly’s going on?”

Sam grimaced and rubbed the bridge of his snout. He didn’t respond at first as he considered exactly what to say. He knew what she was talking about, and knew he’d have to speak carefully, because Molly would string him up if he said anything to further fan the rumors swirling in town.

“…Well, I don’t rightly know how much you’ve heard, Dana.” He pulled at the collar of his shirt. “A whole host o’ people have up and vanished overnight without a trace, and we don’t know what’s goin’ on.”

“Oh gosh.” Her face fell. “Who’s missing?”

“Well, the mayor, for one. The whole town council, ol’ pastor Thompson, the police chief, and a whole buncha others. A lot of real important members o’ the community. Right now, Molly’s runnin’ around tryin’ to figure out just what the hell’s goin’ on, and I’m just tryin’ keep the town together otherwise. Now that the chief and the mayor’s gone, we’re the only two left in town to handle this, and we need to make sure nothin’ else goes wrong.”

“Oh God… That’s horrible! What do you think happened to them?”

“I don’t know.” He didn’t want to add to the gossip any further. “That’s what Molly’s tryin’ to find out. I’m sure it’s nothin’, though. Nothin’ to worry about.”

“I hope so. Hopefully they’re not hurt.”

Sam rolled his eyes dismissively. “I’m sure they’re fine. They’ll turn up after a day or two, and have some big story to tell, and we—”

It was then that Sam’s radio burst to life. 

He listened to the garbled voice on the other end for a moment before responding in kind. Dana couldn’t understand what was said to him, but it sounded urgent.

He turned back to Dana. “Sorry, I gotta go now. That was Molly. She’s all in a tizzy. Says she needs my help with somethin’.”

He made to leave, but stopped short. “Uhh, whenever I get this paperwork in, a surveyor or somethin’ will be comin’ out here to inspect the sinkhole and make sure it ain’t gonna expand any further and damage your property. I’ll call ya ‘fore that happens, though.” He waved. “See ya later, Dana.”

“Bye, Sam!” she called back. “Hope you figure out what’s going on!”

She stood there for another moment, watching as Sam walked back to his car. She waved one more time as he got in, and he waved back.

And then she shut the door.

  



End file.
